Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

Knowledge, attitudes and intentions of healthcare university students on H1N1 vaccine: A Malaysian insight

13^th Annual Congress on Vaccines, Therapeutics & Travel Medicine: Influenza & Infectious diseases

December 01-02, 2016 Atlanta, USA

Muhammad Shahid Iqbal

MAHSA University, Malaysia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Vaccines Vaccin

Abstract:

Swine flu (H1N1) pandemic was confirmed on June 11th, 2009 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO declared the pandemic over by August 10th, 2010, by which time 214 countries had reported laboratory confirmed cases, which included 18449 deaths. The H1N1 influenza pandemic had garnered a large amount of attention. Currently, the most effective preventive measure available is the H1N1 vaccine. In contrast to seasonal influenza epidemics, in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, younger age groups were disproportionately affected compared with older age groups. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the behavioral perceptions of H1N1 influenza vaccination among healthcare students studying in a university in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study invited 350 students to complete a self-administered questionnaire that assessed the knowledge, attitudes and intentions towards H1N1 influenza vaccination. Data analysis included the estimation of knowledge scores ranging from 0 to 10, attitude scores ranging from most positive (10) to most negative (0) and intention scores ranging from lowest intention (0) to highest intention (10). With a response rate of n=280 (85%), 31.5% never heard of the vaccine before and only 27.7% were already H1N1 influenza vaccinated. The median knowledge score of 51.5±1.32% reflected poor to moderate knowledge. Still, the median attitude score of 8.47±0.05 shows a general positive attitude towards H1N1 influenza vaccination where most of the participants agreed that university students have a good chance of acquiring H1N1 influenza infection (51.2%) and that all medical practitioners should recommend the vaccine (81.0%). Students in healthcare programs and those who are vaccinated had significantly higher knowledge scores compared with students in non-healthcare programs and H1N1 non-vaccinated students, respectively. This study highlights the importance of offering guidance to university students about H1N1 and its vaccination in developing countries where the incidence of such infections is on the rise.

Biography :

Email: drmmsiqbal@gmail.com